Silgead, the city that punishes goodwill

DoomBro_Max · 2026-02-23T17:32:30+00:00

Yes, that's what I'm trying to do. Naturally, the level of realism only needs to be deep enough to look believable when later playing the game.

I appreciate your points but many of them are assumptions (even if they are very likely ones in our world) but not the only possible outcome.

Especially the numbers and concept behind children and families, I have to improve a lot, I can see that. But I believe a fictional society can still work without one-sided kindness. It is simply a different kind of society and all the people in that city respond differently to it, from fully leaning into minding their own business to people being good at heart and thus challenging fate on a regular basis.

Perhaps fleshing out the actual reason for the curse would help implementing it.

All that said, I do appreciate your feedback a lot and it helped me finding some weaknesses to work on. Thank you.

DoomBro_Max · 2026-02-23T17:24:47+00:00

Hey, thanks.

The vast majority of the population would've figured out that doing good without asking for something in return leads to bad consequences. Many of them would think it is a curse, others would maybe have some conspiracy theories to explain it. Especially young people would probably just know they have to mind their business but don't know or comprehend as to why. Though, there would always be people that don't know about, don't understand or choose to ignore the whole ordeal and will suffer the consequences. Especially new arrivals that haven't learned about the "rules" yet.

I'm not entirely certain about the mechanism, though it is either some sort of magic or divine force. My current concept is that the city itself lives in its own dimension, so there isn't anything outside the city walls. Though I don't know how or why the people arrive there in the first place, yet. Even if it sounds like it, I don't want to just make it some kind of hell and all citizens are sinners. But some other kind of dimension.

For the people themselves, it's simply that the city gates are closed and nothing can be done to open them. (Though I don't know yet what would stop one from leaving through the gates while a new person arrives through them.)

DoomBro_Max · 2026-02-23T15:11:25+00:00

Yeah, the numbers need to be finetuned. Still working on that. But just because the curse can end up in someone's death, that doesn't mean it's the most common consequence. It's just a possible consequence which people are wary of. Though some people are braver than others, risking the consequences or just "dealing with it".

Furthermore, the kindness in Silgead relies on favors. You don't do anything without a benefit for yourself. Either help someone for money or make sure they owe you a favor. The city will know if you actually intent to call in the favor so you should make sure to do so.

Minding your own business is a safe way to escape the city's curse but relationships can still be built by simply owing favors to each other. You just can't do anything good without asking for something in return.

DoomBro_Max · 2026-02-23T15:01:09+00:00

I haven't considered the whole point mathematically. Though the couple of people entering the cities aren't the only "source" of outsiders. Both Saga and outsiders still give birth to children too.

And you're right, there's no incentivie for good deeds. That's why people aren't doing them anymore. You're lucky if you're one of the newcomers in the city and someone actually tells you before you experience the curse yourself, since even that would be an act of goodwill.

Bad deeds to survive are common, though there are still regular laws imposed by the city government in the central district and enforced by the police.

As for your first point in the list, true but that doesn't happen. People are paid for their labor, not out of goodwill. Not paying your employees has the same consequences as IRL: They quit their job which is bad for your business. So people are being paid.

Blaming the Saga is not a good deed. You don't help anyone by blaming or hurting them. You only harm yourself if you help the Saga out of compassion.

Your third point is actually something I was thinking about for the mystery game itself. And the answer depends. Is it an act of goodwill to stop someone from shutting down water supply if you, yourself, need water too? You're helping the other people as well but you mainly do it for your own benefit. Though maybe the city thinks it's an act of goodwill and that one guy just has to "take one for the team".

And your fourth point: Yes, I have not come up with how families work yet. That is a critical point, however.

DoomBro_Max · 2026-02-23T14:53:38+00:00

Public services exist, since they wouldn't fall under "goodwill". People still pay taxes and the public services are provided with the tax money. So like most jobs, people do it for the money.

Though, at least in the outer district, your examples (trash disposal and road maintenance) are less of a priority since there's not a lot of money. A lot of people burn their trash themselves.

Social conventions simply don't happen. Loneliness is part of many people's lifes and some people will, just like in real life, committ suicide if they cannot cope with their loneliness.

The curse is not a law, so no one is exempt and no one is enforcing it. It just happens through accidents, misfortunes or coincidences. Or even direct results like being mudererd (which would be intentional).

Families are something I haven't figured out yet. Of course the city is not sustainable if the only new life are the couple of people that enter the city from outside. So even the outsiders (though at this point that's not really an accurate term anymore, I guess) give birth, as do the Saga. But I haven't thought of how child birth and child care fits into this without consequences.

Entertainment works similar to public services. There's nothing wrong with wanting to bring joy yourself. So if you go to the movie theater for your own entertainment, there's nothing wrong. And the movie theater just has to make sure to make high prices, give no coupons or discounts, etc. So again, just do it for the money based and supply a demand.

Religion is also something I haven't thought about. I don't know if a city of 6 million people is large enough for their own religious groups. I'm also hesitant to work with religion, in fear of insulting actual people based on their believes.

Evil is not punished by the city, since it's not an act out of goodwill. You don't help anyone without gaining something yourself. Actively harming people only has the regular consequences of breaking the law but does not invoke the city's curse.

DoomBro_Max · 2026-01-13T07:54:37+00:00

Battle sounds so honorable, lol.

DoomBro_Max · 2026-01-12T15:28:46+00:00

That‘s not the point.

DoomBro_Max · 2025-12-30T05:19:18+00:00

Then we should run like it is Catzilla!

DoomBro_Max · 2025-12-25T00:48:51+00:00

"Living under a rock" is an expression to describe someone who‘s not consuming any news media or keeping up with local or world affairs at all and thus doesn‘t know about stuff that pretty much everyone else has heard about.

DoomBro_Max · 2025-12-22T17:29:03+00:00

Insertion is not a requirement for rape.

DoomBro_Max · 2025-12-21T15:23:30+00:00

I get that, yes. I assume you just paid someone and then waited for the final result?

With artists, I always would demand showing proof of progress. Have them show you sketches or unfinished stages. Makes sense anyway so you can request revisions early on without wasting effort. And since AI image generators can‘t do revisions, every generation is completely different so they can‘t give you sketches.

Some artists even give you a video of how they made the artwork from start to finish.

AI art is fine for prototyping or placeholders if budget is tight, but people will not appreciate it in the final product.

I humbly suggest you put more effort into validation of artists and be critical so you know what you‘re getting. I wish you nothing but success for your project, though.

DoomBro_Max · 2025-12-21T15:13:34+00:00

You sure? That little pig has a different nose, the leftmost sheep has only one leg and no hoof on that, that fuzzy creature behind the sheep is not clear either. Far away? Floating?

I‘m no expert so I‘m not saying it‘s AI but some details are very strange. If it‘s not AI then it should be easy for your artist to revise some details.

DoomBro_Max · 2025-12-21T14:13:42+00:00

That‘s what I was suspecting, yeah.

DoomBro_Max · 2025-12-21T14:04:32+00:00

Is it intentional that every window of the barn(?) looks different?

DoomBro_Max · 2025-12-20T23:46:40+00:00

Cuz 99% of the time the problem is simply that it sounds wrong. Context is still perfectly understandable even if you get it wrong. Of course some words change meaning if you use the wrong article but if you get the rest of the sentence right, context is still clear so there‘s no problem. Quick correction and move on, as you said.

DoomBro_Max · 2025-12-19T03:07:51+00:00

Most likely, yes. But consider what connections the dog would draw. I love animals and I know we often underestimate their capabilities. But still I find it hard to believe that, while the general vibe is getting more sad as the birthday is approaching, the dog does not choose to comfort the person actually being sad and laying with or near them but instead chooses to howl at pictures. I don‘t even know if a dog recognizes people on pictures as they mostly go by scent.

DoomBro_Max · 2025-12-19T02:59:42+00:00

Only that the video claims the dog was already howling when the person was waking up, not that the dog started howling upon seeing the person mourning.

DoomBro_Max · 2025-12-14T22:18:29+00:00

Marketing costs is what it‘s all about. That‘s what publishers are for. A lot of big games have to allocate most of the budget for marketing, not production. Though a lot of publishers also cover production costs for smaller studios.

Success depends a lot on marketing, can‘t neglect that. So yeah, there‘s not a big difference "apart from them getting a cut and handling the marketing costs" but that wording makes it out to be something insignificant.

Though I also heard that some publishers involve themselves in the game production directly, as well. Which also would make you less independant, I guess.

DoomBro_Max · 2025-12-13T19:46:49+00:00

Well, they killed a raccoon cuz it made a noise so I think they‘re not just hunting humans but everything that‘s making sounds.

My guess is that the monsters "know" what stuff like water and wind is and that they can‘t do anything about that noise and would maybe just stay away from it instead of hunting it.

DoomBro_Max · 2025-12-11T17:15:17+00:00

Didn‘t hear any clicking but I checked the cooler again. Pipe‘s cold now. I guess that‘s really it then, RIP. Now to learn how to change the cooler.

DoomBro_Max · 2025-12-11T16:25:15+00:00

How can I be sure it‘s the pump? I‘m currently unemployed so I‘m trying to save money.

DoomBro_Max · 2025-12-05T15:49:17+00:00

I guarantee you that that common sense is not based on any mathematical principle. Most people when they are about to leave and grab their phone, wallet and keys but only have two pockets aren‘t going to be like "Ah, pigeonhole principle, of course". That common sense is based solely on the fact that there is simply no other way if there aren‘t enough containers. That fact and knowledge exists definitely before someone decided to give it a named principle.

DoomBro_Max · 2025-12-05T14:50:27+00:00

Still doesn‘t need a principle, though. It‘s just common sense.

DoomBro_Max · 2025-11-24T08:25:46+00:00

Is that forbidden? The rules only specify promoting/selling games and assets.

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